It is not an encouraging commentary. John Stewart, Cisco’s Chief Security Officer, thinks that malware is winning:

“…”If patching and antivirus is where I spend my money, and I’m still getting infected and I still have to clean up computers and I still need to reload them and still have to recover the user’s data and I still have to reinstall it, the entire cost equation of that is a waste.

“It’s completely wasted money,” Stewart told delegates.”

link: Antivirus is ‘completely wasted money’: Cisco CSO

For years, some in the security community have speculated that continuous ‘live’ updates might be part of the solution. That means that it is not a scheduled download of patches or an update at the discretion of the computer user. It means that the security software would be updated as continuously as possible, while the user is online. On starting the computer, the security program would ‘call home’ and download the latest protection.

The cost of such vigilance and this level of urgency would be cost prohibitive. The experts at security firms and at help sites simply know that malware purveyors far outnumber those who on the protective security side. And, sadly, continuous updates might be too late.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster